Jessica P. Ogilvie

In tonight's Extra, Extra, a former "Bachelorette" contestant sounds off on who gets cast and why, Russell Brand gets back to his roots, and a local man is caught up in a plan to build explosives. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports. You can also find us on Pinterest, Storify, Foursquare, and Instagram (laistpics).

Police officers are getting showy. After a high-speed chase through East L.A. that saw cops going after a motorcyclist this morning, a CHP motorcycle officer cut the bike off and tackled the driver.

Well, it's official -- reality TV is now an acceptable stop along the career paths of high-profile pop and rock singers. Following in the hallowed footsteps of Jennifer Lopez, Paula Abdul and Steven Tyler, Mariah Carey has signed on as a judge of "American Idol."

Difficult as it is to believe, certain men are still -- still! -- debating the issue of whether or not women are funny. Like, they're seriously debating it. They mean it when they say things like "most pretty girls aren't funny" and "The reason why you know more funny dudes than funny chicks is that dudes are funnier than chicks."

Firefighters worked for over 30 minutes to put out a blaze that destroyed an apartment building in Koreatown in the early evening last night. City News Service reports that authorities were called to the scene at about 5:28 p.m., to 1017 S. Serrano Ave. near Olympic Boulevard.

Officials have trapped a 100-pound male mountain lion in the Trabuco Canyon area of Orange County, reports City News Service. The lion had been spotted a few times over the past month.

In tonight's Extra, Extra, a woman is bitten by a panhandler, an OC housewife declares victory, and LiLo's judges are judged. Plus: Keep up with us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @LAist @LAistFood @LAistSports. You can also find us on Pinterest, Storify, Foursquare, and Instagram (laistpics).

A woman claims that she was sexually assaulted in an elevator in Santa Monica, reports KTLA, and police are looking for the suspect.

Now that Scientology is squarely in the public eye thanks to TomKat's heart-breaking split, leaders in the church apparently don't have any intention of slinking back out of view -- rather, they've decided to turn part of their Hollywood complex into a religious TV station.

We hate to say it, but the future of "American Idol" looks grim. Yesterday, Steven Tyler quit the show, cleverly claiming that the program was his "mistress," but that he now has to get back to his true love, Aerosmith.

In today's teacher-student relationship news, a 39-year-old educator in Anaheim who happens to be married to a pastor was arrested after being found making out with a former student in her car earlier this week.

It might be time for us to simply co-exist with our friend, the Angeleno Forest bear. After two fuzzy brown forest-dwellers were spotted in Duarte and Bradbury earlier this week, another was seen wandering around Pasadena this morning.